Bezeugen BLOG

Ten years ago on the National Day of Prayer we started meeting monthly for prayer at Carrollton City Hall and HOBI International in Dallas. May 7th we begin our second decade.

Join us at one of our two locations or find a National Day of Prayer location near you.

We intend to use the prayer guide provided by the National Day of Prayer for this months events.

I just finished reading a post on Facebook from a council member in NYC who was angry that the Christian Group Samaritan’s Purse was still serving in Christ name in NYC. I think it was from a couple of days ago but it reminded me how in these times we need to focus on Christ and The Gospel.  Most of us received a stimulus check from the Government. Some people needed that money to just get by for the month and we praise God for providing for you.  Others are still working and did not need the money.  We received a donation check in the mail last week and we saw that donor this weekend at church.  When we thanked him for their families generous donation he responded that they had received this money they did not need and were choosing to give it to places that were focused on the Spread of The Gospel.  That comment really hit me.  How many others are trying to figure out what to do with this money they were given?  If you are in a place where your stimulus check is not needed to keep you afloat consider donating it to an organization that is working to continue to spread the love of Christ and the Gospel in this time.  There are many organizations that are doing so.  
Money donated to Bezeugen is put to good use. For every 3 cents donated one person hears the Gospel.  We have physical tracts that are still going out monthly as well our tracts are online as digital images.  Go to www.bezeugen.org/tracts and you can pick your favorite tract image, download/save it to your device then email, text, upload it to social media etc.  This is a great way to still share the Gospel even if you aren’t getting out of your house.  
We hope and pray that you are staying healthy and safe.  If you have specific prayer request please let us know.  
To donate to Bezeugen please go to donate.bezeugen.org.  

Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. These are definitely unprecidented times for the world, our country and each of us individually. I suspect everyone receiving this is under some form of quarantine or Shelter in Place. While we are used to sharing the Gospel “As You Go”, we are puzzled how to do that when we are not going anywhere.

Well, one day last week, since I am working from home, I was walking around the block when I came across an older Asian couple walking down the street. The woman was distressed about Corona and in broken English asking how many cases of the virus are in Dallas. As I tried to talk with her she got more and more upset about the virus. Finally I said, “don’t worry, God is in control.”  I shared the Gospel with them and they both took tracts. Isn’t it amazing how God used working from home and social distancing to provide the opportunity to share the Gospel!

Happy April! A quick video introducing the April mailing of the Bezeugen Tract Club can be found on YouTube.  You can also access electronic versions of these tracts to share online.

While we realize that everyone is going out much less than normal, there are still opportunities to go out to shop at essential business, pick up food, or intereact with food delivery people. Each of these are opportunities to Share the Gospel. You can also mail tracts to people while you Shelter in Place  or return them in business reply envelopes. Did you know that Bezeugen Ministries also provides electronic versions of many of its Gospel Tracts. You can read more about that  and then share the Gospel online in social media, email and text messages.

The May mailing of the Bezeugen Tract Club is ready to go to the post office. We anticipate mailing it by Wednesday, April 8th so that you’ll have it before the beginning of May.

Finally, we’d like to invite you to pray. Pray for our nation, leaders and revival. Pray for an end to the pandemic. Pray that during this time people would seek God. Pray that all tracts mailed in the Bezeugen Tract Club will be distributed. Prayer that people will repent and trust in Jesus alone for salvation. Each month on the first Thursday of the month we host prayer meetings. This month it’s virtual. While you shelter in place why not take time to pray. Suggested verses for the ACTS (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgivings and Supplication) model of prayer can be found here .

While you Shelter in Place you may like some resources to grow your faith. Keith Dollar has been having daily live worship and prayer on Facebook.  Tract Club member Steve Sanchez preached an awesome message on Sheltering in Place with the Most High. Skip Heitzig has been preaching messages to bring hope during this time on Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings. You can find these messages on YouTube ,

The Bezeugen Ministries is a 501c3 non-profit. All donations are greatly appreciated and are used to share the Gospel and provide the tracts for the Bezeugen Tract Club. Please prayerfully consider a one time or recurring donation. More information on supporting Bezeugen Ministries can be found at http://donate.bezeugen.org/. Requests for additional tracts, bookmarks, door hangers and million dollar bills tracts can also be made through that page.

God Bless
Bezeugen Ministries
www.bezeugen.org

While we all Shelter in Place we still have the opportunity to share the Gospel – online! Did you know that Bezeugen Ministries has an extensive collection of online Gospel tracts that you can find on the website at http://www.bezeugen.org/tracts/. When you go to that page you can find a list of tracts. Click the link to view the image. From your phone you can press on the image until “save” or “download” option is displayed. You can then share to your favorite social media, text or email the images to people.

The Coronavirus has created a worldwide pandemic. Probably no one alive has seen anything like this. We read online and hear about the previous pandemics like the Spanish Fly of 1918. Yet across the state, country and world, streets are empty as people “Shelter in Place”. What are we to do about sharing the Gospel?

Yesterday I checked the mail at our apartment complex. There was a piece of junk mail that included a business reply envelope. I put several tracts in the envelope and mailed it back! Someone will receive this along with the gospel. Perhaps you have bills to pay or letters to write. These are great opportunities to share the Gospel by putting a track in the envelope! For more information see post on Facebook.

Since May 2010 we have been having a monthly prayer meeting at City Hall in Carrollton, Texas and at HOBI International in Dallas, Texas. Several other locations have participated at times. It’s critical that we pray for our nation, leaders and revival. At this time where the whole world is dealing with the Coronavirus pandemic, please join in prayer from where ever you may be. The verses below may be used for the ACTS model of prayer: Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving and Supplication. Typically we will read a verse then pray for Adoration, read the next verse then pray prayers of confessions. Etc.

Due to the Dallas County Shelter in Place Order this months prayer meeting will be virtual. Please post your prayers in the comments of this BLOG post or in the Facebook event.

This Thursday, November 7th, is the First Thursday of the month. We will have prayer at noon at Carrollton City Hall and HOBI International. This Sunday, November 10th, is the 2nd Sunday of the month. Prayer will be at Rockwall Bible Church at 7PM.

Suggested verses for the ACTS prayer are:

60% chance of rain in Carrollton on Thursday. If it rains, I’ll be under the steps by the front entrance to city hall. If it is not raining I’ll be by the flag poles. Hope to see you there!

Thursday, August 1, 2019, is the First Thursday of the month. This months suggested A.C.T.S. (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving and Supplication) verses for prayer are:

Since May 2010 we have been meeting the First Thursday of each month at Carrollton City Hall and HOBI International for Prayer at noon to 12:30PM. In Carrollton, meet at the flag poles. At HOBI International, please arrive ten minutes early to clear security. We also have a group that meets the Second Sunday of each month in Rockwall. The locations are:

• HOBI International, Dallas – Thursday, August, 1st at noon
• Carrollton City Hall – Thursday, August 1st at noon.
• Rockwall Bible Church – Sunday August 11th 7-8PM

Please note that for this month there is currently no one confirmed to be able to attend in Carrollton. If you are the only one there please use the verses above for prayer that day.

Every week we go to our favorite fishing hole in Dallas – the West End transit center. At this location the bus and train lines intersect. At lunch time there is a hustle and bustle about the place. In 30-40 minutes between two of us we can generally hand out a couple hundred tracts and have a few conversations.

There are people of many walks of life there. Some are homeless. Some are corporate executives. Some are parents with kids. Some are from other countries sightseeing. Recently we’ve seen small groups of well dressed people walking together. Offering them a Tract they will generally say no. Then we see three or four other well dressed people, the first group goes up to the second group, they change places and the second group leaves. It’s like clockwork. What we’ve just seen is a group of Jehovah’s Witnesses report for duty. Some days there are two or three of these stations where the JWs stand to make their material available. I’m thankful that they only give material to people who ask for it. Since we hand our tracts to people and ask “did you get one of these” I’d guess we probably hand out more tracts in a half hour than they do all day. But still, the JWs are there with their false message.

Why is a cult more active at spreading its lies than the church is at proclaiming the truth? Have we become complacent knowing our hope is in the Lord yet failing to share that hope with others. It’s a stark contrast to the cult and false religions of the world. As I engage with the JWs I share the truth with them. I also ask them if they will go to Heaven and they say no. I can not imagine the rigor of going out like clockwork to work their spot on the street but not even knowing their eternal destiny.

I have tried various approaches with different scriptures to try to reason with Jehovah’s Witnesses. The most common objection from them is that they deny the Deity of Jesus. Using John 1:1 as a starting point the Jehovah’s Witnesses New World Translation inserts a single letter, a, before “God”. So where The ESV and other translations clearly say “the Word was God.” The Jehovah’s Witness says “the Word was a god”. Big difference, especially as you read on into the chapter that “the word became flesh and made His dwelling among us.” (V14) These verses clearly show that Jesus is eternal and He is God. The JW denies that.

I tried using verses from Titus 1 one day while talking with a couple of the JW’s. In Titus 1 we can see that credit for salvation goes back and forth between God the Father and Jesus. Then looking at other verses like Isaiah 43:11 it is clear that there is no savior aside from the Lord. So again, Jesus has to be God.

A few weeks after having this discussion I saw the woman who I had shared this with. She brought up our conversation and the reference to Isaiah 43. She then tried to show me that there are multiple saviors, but those verses she used were out of context of salvation to eternity. For example they showed that some people saved someone from a problem. The topic of the trustworthiness of their translation of the Bible came up. She asserted that there is a man who wrote a book claiming the New World Translation is the most reliable translation. The Book is “Truth in Translation: Accuracy and Bias in English Translations of the New Testament” by Jason David BeDuhn.

In our Basic Evangelism Training Seminar we encourage people to “study the last question asked”. By this we mean that even if we don’t meet the person who asked the question, someone else may ask. By studying we can be prepared next time for that question. So, it’s encouraging that this JW woman was thinking of our conversation and trying to prove herself (and her beliefs) correct even from the Bible. I pray that as she searches the scripture she will ultimately be lead to the truth.

I have not read “Truth in Translation” but I was able to do some research on the book. One issue with the book is that it only investigates eight Bible verses.

“A brief summary is that Professor BeDuhn does not appear to be as unbiased he claims. He also derived his conclusion based on only eight verses which he considered key to detecting theological bias in a translation. He concluded that the New World Translation and the New American Bible (a Catholic translation) were the most accurate in the eight issues on which he critiqued the translations. ” Article from La Vista Church of Christ

The minister who wrote that article preached a sermon going into more details of the issues with the book and then examines other scriptures which show the JWs New World Translation is not the most accurate. The outline of the sermon can be found online and is worth reading to better understand the verses that are often contentious when speaking with JWs. These verses include Genesis 1:2, Exodus 3:14, Numbers 1:52, Matthew 2:11, Matthew 25:46, Luke 23:43, John 1:1, John 1:18, John 8:58, Acts 20:28, Romans 8:28, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, Phillippians 2:6, Colossians 1:16-20, and 2 Peter 3:10.

CARM has information about Jehovah’s Witnesses which includes why JW is not Christian and a message for JWs. I encourage you to read over that information as you prepare to share the Gospel with JWs.

As you seek to reach the lost and JW in particular, continue to pray for Wisdom that the Lord will guide your conversation. Most recently, I’ve tried just simply introducing myself and asking how they became a Jehovah’s Witness. Some have been in the cult their whole lives. Others converted to it later in life. This has been fruitful just in building repoire and getting to know them. If you have experiences to share please send them to us in the comments.